Stage Fright on a Summer Night (5 page)

“I have had a most rare vision,” he said. “I have had a dream … .”

Jack whispered the words to himself.
“I have had a most rare vision. I have had a dream.”

Beside him, a group of actors gathered for the last scene of the play.

“My lion mask is missing!” one of them wailed. “I cannot be a lion without my mask!”

“Hush, of course you can,” said Will. “Just roar! And roar again!”

Will pushed the actor onstage. He wiped his brow. Then he caught sight of Jack.

“Get Andy!” he said. “It's almost time for our bow.”

Annie? Where is Annie?
Jack wondered. He hadn't seen her in a while. He peeked into the costume room. She wasn't there.

Jack's heart started to pound. He had a scary thought … .

“Oh, no,” he whispered.

Jack ran down the stairs. He opened the door. He was happy to see Annie running out from some trees behind the theater.

“It's time to bow!” he said, grabbing her hand. “Where have you been? What did you do?”

“I'll show you later!” said Annie.

Jack and Annie charged upstairs together.
They found Will and some of the actors waiting.

Puck was finishing his last speech onstage:

“Andy! Jack!” said Will. He grabbed Annie and Jack.

Puck ended his speech. The audience gave a big hand. They clapped and whistled and shouted.

Jack and Annie ran onstage with Will and the other actors. While the crowd cheered, they all bowed once … twice … and once again.

Will stepped forward and held up his hands. Slowly the crowd quieted down.

“Thank you all,” he said. “And thank you to the most important person in all the world. She has graced us with her presence today.”

Will made a sweeping bow to a woman in a gallery above the stage. The woman wore a white dress with pearls. A veil covered her face.

The woman stood up and slowly lifted the veil. She had pale, wrinkled skin and small dark eyes. She wore a red wig.

The audience members let out a gasp. They all fell to their knees.

“Long live Queen Elizabeth!” said Will.

“Long live Queen Elizabeth!” the crowd shouted.

“Long live Queen Elizabeth!” shouted Jack and Annie.

The queen smiled. Her teeth were all black! The audience didn't seem to mind. They cheered even louder.

The queen raised one hand and the crowd instantly hushed.

“I thank you, my good people,” she said. “And I thank all these good players, every one. Today, they gave us a special kind of magic—the magic of theater. They turned the very daytime into night.”

“Oh, man,” whispered Jack. That was it—the special magic. Their search was over.

The audience cheered again. When the actors left the stage, they gathered around Will to congratulate him on his success.

Annie pulled Jack aside.

“We found it!” she said. “The magic!”

“I know!” Jack said. “Will helped us. Let's thank him!”

“Later,” said Annie. “First I have to show you something. I need your help! Quick!”

Annie led Jack downstairs and outside. As people streamed away from the Globe, the late afternoon sun was going down.

“This way,” said Annie. She headed for the patch of trees behind the theater.

When she and Jack stepped into the gloomy shade, Jack saw an odd figure near a tree. A purple cape barely covered his furry back. A golden wig and a lion mask barely hid his furry head.

Jack gasped. “The bear! You stole him!”

“I
had
to,” said Annie. “I went to the cart when no one was looking. I put a costume on him. So if we passed people on the way here, they'd think he was an actor.”

“But you can't just steal him!” said Jack.

“I wasn't stealing. I was
saving,
” said Annie. “I'm not sure what to do with him now. What do you think?”

Just then the bear's owner charged into the woods. “Where's my bear?” he shouted. His face was red. He was scowling.

“Thieves!” he yelled. “Give him back! I'm selling him to the fights!”

“NO!” said Annie, standing between the bear and the man. “He's a tame bear! Not a fighter!”

“She's right!” said Jack, jumping in. “And besides, bear fighting is stupid! Really stupid!”

“ 'Tis, indeed,” said a deep voice.

Jack, Annie, and the bear's owner whirled around. Will and Puck were standing at the edge of the woods.

“Tut, tut, you're a sorry sight, man,” Will said to the bear's owner. “Trying to sell an old tame bear to the fights. Well, I've been planning to write a play with a part for a bear. So take this money for him and be gone.”

Will handed some gold coins to the bear's owner.

The man's eyes grew wide. He laughed.

“You can have him!” the man said. And he took off.

“Thank
you,
and good riddance!” called
Will. Then he turned to Puck. “Take our new player to the stables. Tell the actors they needn't be afraid of him. He's tamer than most of them.”

“Come this way,” Puck said. He put his arm around the bear and gently led him out from the trees. “You'll love the stage, old man.”

“Bye, Puck! Bye, Dan!” said Annie.

Puck smiled and waved. The bear stared for a moment at Jack and Annie. He had a grateful look in his eyes. Then he lumbered off with Puck.

“Thanks, Will, for helping Dan,” said Annie. “And for helping us.”

“Thank you both for helping
me,
” said Will. “You saved the day.”

“The
night,
you mean,” said Jack.

“Indeed, the night,” said Will. “Oh, here is
your bag. You forgot it.” He gave Jack his leather bag. Then he held up their two scrolls with their lines on them.

“And you can take these,” said Will. He handed them to Jack, and Jack put them in his bag.

“Where are you off to now?” said Will.

“The other side of London Bridge,” said Annie.

“Ah, I can take you there in my boat,” said Will. “Follow me.”

Will led them along a dusty path toward the river. The last rays of the sun slanted through the trees. Soon they came to a small rowboat docked on the Thames.

“Climb in,” said Will.

Jack, Annie, and Will climbed in. Will untied the boat from the dock. Then he began rowing across the river.

The water reflected the purple and pink in the sky. Only a few white swans now glided over the shimmering ripples. The river smelled as bad as before, but Jack didn't mind now. He had grown used to it.

Jack pulled out his notebook and pencil.

“What are you doing?” Will asked.

“I wanted to write some of my memories in my notebook,” said Jack.

“Ah, and I'll note you both in
my
book of memory,” said Will.

Jack smiled.

“I have a question, Will,” said Annie. “Why does Queen Elizabeth have black teeth?”

“Too much sugar,” said Will.

“I hope it doesn't make her feel bad—looking that way, I mean,” said Annie.

“Oh, no, she's not the least hurt,” said Will. “The queen has no idea how she looks. She hasn't peeked in a good mirror for twenty years.”

“Is that true?” said Annie.

“ 'Tis,” said Will. “The queen pretends to be young and beautiful. Just as
you
pretended to be a boy, and the bear pretended to be an actor. You see, all the world's a stage.”

Jack liked that idea. He wrote in his notebook:

Jack looked up at London Bridge as they passed by. The shops on the bridge were closed now. The theater crowd was thinning out.

The scary black birds were no longer on
the rooftops. They had swooped down and were picking at the garbage left on the cobblestones.

The show was over.

By the time they came to the riverbank, night was falling. It was much cooler. Will tied up his rowboat and climbed ashore with Jack and Annie.

“Thanks a lot,” Jack said to Will. “We can go the rest of the way by ourselves.”

“Where do you live?” said Will.

“In Frog Creek,” said Annie.

“What path do you take?” asked Will.

“You'll never believe this,” said Annie. “We climb up the rope ladder to a tree house in that tree over there. And we open a book—”

“Then we make a wish,” said Jack, “and we go to the place in the book.”

Will smiled.

“Thy life's a miracle, isn't it?” he said.

“Yes!” said Annie. Jack nodded. He liked the way Will looked at things.

“I have an idea,” said Will. “Why don't you both stay here instead? You can live and act at the Globe Theater. I'll ask the queen to exclude you from the law about girls going onstage, Annie—because of your great talent. And I will teach you both to write plays.”